This July, Midwestern craft brewer Berghoff Brewery will debut Rowdy Root Beer, a 6.6% ABV alcoholic root beer. The brewery has long produced a popular, classic root beer, first establishing its strong market presence during Prohibition as a means of staying in business. Today, Berghoff Brewery is recognized as a player in both the soda industry and the dynamic craft beer scene. The newly introduced Rowdy Root Beer ties together both sides of the Berghoff Brewery business in a delicious tribute to their history and roots, all while appeasing the modern craft beer drinker and capitalizing on the popular trend of alcoholic root beers.
The beer itself is crafted from a flavorless porter mixed with root beer flavoring. Minkoff and his team worked with Northwestern Extract to achieve the iconic root beer flavor, testing out 15 different prototypes before determining the final recipe. The recipe, while different from Berghoff’s traditional root beer, combines the creaminess of the original with an appealing bite. The after tones taste of some of the delicious malts that the beer is created with.
Rowdy Root Beer will be available…
…in 12-oz. cans, sold in six-packs.
…on draught at select bars in the Chicago area.
Berghoff will also continue to produce their original root beer, as they have for more than 75 years.
The label (pictured above) features a custom comic from Canadian artist Chez Meka, designed exclusively for Berghoff.
The first batch of Berghoff beer was brewed in 1887 by Herman Berghoff and his three brothers, Henry, Hubert and Gustav. Demand for their beer grew with astonishing speed, and by 1890, the brothers were producing 90,000 barrels of lager annually. A showcase at the 1892 Chicago World’s Fair put Berghoff on the national map, expanding their reach into new markets and introducing hundreds of thousands of new drinkers to their authentic German-style beers. During World War I, the brothers cemented their brewing company’s place in American history, changing their slogan from “a real German brew” to “a real honest brew” in honor of their adopted homeland. In a bold show of American ingenuity, Berghoff produced soft drinks, including a root beer and a malt tonic, throughout Prohibition; the brewery was the first to return to production and sale of alcoholic beers when the Volstead Act was repealed, pouring at The Berghoff, the bar with the first liquor license to be re-granted in Chicago.
For more information about Berghoff, including full descriptions of all their beers and where to find them, visit www.berghoffbeer.com, follow them on Twitter (@BerghoffBeer) and “like” them on Facebook.
